The design of Toshiba's high-end Kirabook hasn't changed since last year, but it has aged gracefully. The components get an update and the battery life gets a big boost, making this an all-around excellent, but expensive, ultrabook.

Toshiba enters the growing Chromebook market with the first 13-inch model. It's a great size for switching between travel and home/office use and feels comfortable to type on, but other Chromebooks offer more features for the same price.

Toshiba's ambitious Kirabook has a screen that rivals Apple's MacBook Pro with Retina Display, and a price to match. It's a solid, useful laptop, but for these prices, the design should really be more exciting.

We have yet to see a truly great gaming laptop built from the ground up with Windows 8 in mind, but the 17-inch Toshiba Qosmio X875 can be configured into a powerful, reasonably priced mainstream gaming machine.